Broken bats, and Bradman on board

During the World Cup final, Gautam Gambhir's bat was broken by a Lasith Malinga yorker - would he have been out if the piece that broke had flown back and dislodged the bails? Secondly, is it out if the ball hits the umpire on the full and is caught by a fielder? asked Sundar from the United States
The answer to both parts of your question is yes, the batsmen would have been out. There has been at least one instance of a broken bat disturbing the stumps in a Test. The batsman concerned was South Africa's Billy Zulch, playing against Australia in Johannesburg in 1921-22: a ball from Ted McDonald broke Zulch's bat, and a fragment hit the stumps, dislodging the bails. He's shown as "hit wicket" on the scorecard. McDonald, one of the first truly fast bowlers, had been involved in a similar incident earlier in 1921: against England at Headingley he bowled a ball that broke the bat of Andy Ducat (who was playing in what turned out to be his only Test). The broken bit hit the stumps, but the ball was caught in the slips anyway - by McDonald's partner in high pace, Jack Gregory - and Ducat is down as caught on the scorecard. As for the ball hitting the umpire, if it bounces away to a fielder then that would indeed be out if caught on the full. This happened to the Nottinghamshire batsman Ian Moore in a county match in the 1960s, according to Moore's obituary in the new Wisden: "He once smashed a ball straight back down the pitch," said his former team-mate Mike Smedley. "The umpire couldn't get out of the way and it hit him, then bounced away and he was caught at mid-on."

I heard that Don Bradman once refused to get down from the ship and wave to the crowd in Mumbai. Is that true? asked Kris Amar via Facebook
It's basically true, yes, although what The Don declined to do was get off the ship, rather than refuse to wave. It was on the way to England in 1948 - Bradman's fourth to England - that the soon-to-be Invincibles stopped in Bombay (now Mumbai). Irving Rosenwater's biography (the best of all the books about The Don, I think), states: "Bradman had never been to India in his life - though the Indians had urged him more than once to honour them with a visit - and to travel via Bombay was not the usual route for an Australian touring side to England. It is no secret that the Indians were extremely disappointed when Bradman did not disembark when the Strathaird docked alongside Ballard Pier in Bombay... There were mitigating reasons which prevented Bradman (and many others of the team) from leaving the ship... Prolonged shouts of 'We want Bradman' rose up from several hundred voices on the quayside. Eventually the great man had to yield to the demands, and he appeared at the rail of the liner and waved his hand in greeting, to the great joy - and even greater applause - of the crowd below." Sadly Rosenwater doesn't tell us what the "mitigating reasons" were.

Is Shane Watson's 185 not out in Dhaka the highest individual one-day international score by an Australian? And what is the highest ODI score by a player who did not open the innings? asked Keith D'Souza from Nigeria
Shane Watson's remarkable blitz in Mirpur last week - when his 185 not out came in only 26 overs - was indeed the highest individual score for Australia in one-day internationals, beating Matthew Hayden's unbeaten 181 against New Zealand in Hamilton in 2006-07, in a match that Australia eventually lost by one wicket. The highest score in ODIs by someone who didn't open the innings is 194 not out, by Charles Coventry for Zimbabwe against Bangladesh in Bulawayo in August 2009, which came from No. 3. For a full list of the highest ODI scores by batting position, click here.

What is the most runs by an individual batsman in a three-match ODI series? Shane Watson must be close after that Bangladesh series ... asked Hamish McDonald via Facebook
That's a good spot, because Shane Watson actually broke the record for runs in a three-match ODI series in the series against Bangladesh, with 294 runs (37, 185 not out and 72). The previous best in a three-match series was 289 runs by Graham Gooch, in the 1985 Texaco Trophy series between England and Australia, when he scored 57, 115 and 117 not out.

Who made a triple-century in a Test match using a bat borrowed from his captain? asked Michael Hunter
This was Andy Sandham, the compiler of Test cricket's first triple, for England against West Indies in Kingston in 1929-30. As he told David Frith, in an article that appeared on ESPNcricinfo in 2007, he used a long-handled bat belonging to his captain, the Honourable Freddie Gough-Calthorpe, and also had to borrow a pair of cricket boots from Patsy Hendren, one of the other players. The boots were apparently a bit too big and occasionally slipped off while he was running - so it's a wonder that Sandham, who was nearly 40, kept his concentration going long enough to reach 325. This was the highest individual score in Tests, beating "Tip" Foster's 287 in 1903-04, but Sandham - who never played another Test - held the record for little more than three months, before Don Bradman made 334 against England at Headingley in July 1930.

Jason Gillespie scored 201 not out in his last Test, which was his career highest score. Have any others made a higher score in their last Test match? asked Earl John from Australia
Jason Gillespie, who made 201 not out against Bangladesh in Chittagong in 2005-06, in what turned out to be his final Test, was the fifth player to score a double-century in his last appearance. The highest score involved remains Andy Sandham's 325, against West Indies in Kingston in 1929-30 in the match mentioned in the question above. The others, who all retired after the innings or before their country played another Test, were Bill Ponsford, who made 266 for Australia v England at The Oval in 1934, Seymour Nurse (258 for West Indies v New Zealand in Christchurch in 1968-69) and Aravinda de Silva (206 for Sri Lanka v Bangladesh in Colombo in 2002).